Murty: This Is The Benchmark

GRAEME Murty said his players have set the benchmark for the rest of their season after putting three past Aberdeen.

The win was the Gers 100th over the Dons at Ibrox and the interim gaffer said the Light Blues showed what they were capable of after a testing time of late.

Murty confessed he was proud of his team after James Tavernier bagged two and the recalled Carlos Pena snatched the other.

Speaking to RangersTV Murty said: “I am pleased for and proud of the players. Their character was called into question this week, I asked for a performance and I think that I, the fans and more importantly the team got a really good performance.

“That is the standard we aspire to be at, albeit we think we can do better and we think we can do more but for a level of performance when the pressure was on I thought we did really well.

“I said to everyone I see these guys train every day and I know that when they move the ball quickly and when they show their level they are a match for the teams in this league.

“I thought we embraced the challenge and when Aberdeen went and upped their tempo and put us under a little bit of pressure we stood up to the challenge.

“We won our battles, we won our fights and then we scored at a really good time. I couldn’t be more pleased for the players but this is only one game and we have another big game coming on Sunday.

“Let’s not get too high, let’s prep it properly and recover properly because I am sure Aberdeen won’t take that one lying down and they will be after us on Sunday so we have to be ready.

“That has to be the benchmark now, the level of intensity, the level of play and the level of quality.

“I said to the players before that it’s not enough at this football club to just be on the pitch wearing the shirt, you have to contribute, and you have to make something happen.

“I thought they stepped up this evening and we will be calling upon them to match, if not exceed that level from now on.”

Tavernier’s first came from the penalty spot before he finished from a few yards out in the second-half. But Murty admits it was the full-back’s defender he was more worried about.

He continued:

“Tav reckons he has an absolute wand of a right foot and I told him at half-time he had to stop letting his man get away from him and that I didn’t expect to see his player at all in the game in the second half.

“I thought he stepped up to the challenge against a difficult opponent and I thought his second goal was just the icing on the cake for him.

“He will be as high as kite right now; he will be bouncing off the ceiling so we just have to make sure that we bring them all back down to earth gently.”